We are not losing the war on drugs, we have lost! In many jails, half of the inmates have been incarcerated after being found guilty of drug related crimes. Many of them have been found guilty for minor infractions- not large scale sales. There are lots of young adults who have been jailed for possession of marijuana or for having distributed some to friends and classmates. Our jails are overflowing and private companies are cleaning up by managing and/ or building new jails across the country under contract with state, federal or local governments. We, in the U.S. are the most jailed population in the world. At year-end 2009 it was 743 adults incarcerated per 100,000 population.

I am no fan of breaking the law (our law) or of Wal-Mart! But, this whole big deal about "bribes” to expand stores in Mexico is really a non-issue- at least on the Mexican side of the border. Pay offs/Bribes (Mordidas) has always been a part of the CULTURE of Mexico. NO business is conducted if you do not pay respect in this unwritten “law”. It is the cost of doing business. While I feel bad that Wal-Mart does not have competition from Mexican retailers, the “bribes” they paid are entirely within the operational norm of Mexico. As for what is legal or not on this side of the border, I have no idea. But, for Wal-Mart to have expanded there was no other way to operate.

This is a long piece and many of you may not read it to its completion, but, it is in many ways the most important blog entry I have made thus far. Read it please. Share it with as many friends and acquaintances as you can. We desperately need a dialogue about SINGULARITY .

I would like to think that as much as we can disagree about politics, religion, economics, sex, and philosophies there are some points where there is common ground- where we can work together. When we work on one thing who knows, maybe it will lead to other arenas! (Am I Too optimistic)? I KNOW that we will ALL agree on what follows: